INSTITUT D'ETUDES POLITIQUES DE PARIS

Their core work

Sciences Po is one of France's most prestigious universities, specializing in political science, social sciences, and the humanities. Within H2020, they focus on structured doctoral training through international partnerships, co-supervision agreements, and interdisciplinary graduate education. Their most recent work centers on addressing grand societal challenges — democratic erosion, climate change, and the digital revolution — through coordinated European research networks among leading social science universities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Sciences Po's early H2020 involvement (2016-2018) centered on participating in doctoral training partnerships — structured PhD programs in social sciences and humanities at Bremen and Cologne. By 2021, they stepped into a coordinator role with CIVICA RESEARCH, shifting from education delivery to strategic research leadership on pressing societal topics like climate change, democratic erosion, and the digital revolution. This evolution shows a clear move from capacity-building participant to agenda-setting research leader.

Sciences Po is positioning itself as a coordinator of multi-university European research alliances addressing democratic, digital, and climate challenges — expect them to lead larger collaborative bids in Horizon Europe.

How they like to work

Sciences Po primarily joined H2020 as a third-party partner in MSCA-COFUND doctoral programs, contributing its social science expertise to existing consortia. With CIVICA RESEARCH, they took on coordination of a 43-partner network spanning 19 countries, demonstrating capacity to manage large European alliances. Their collaboration pattern suggests a hub institution — deeply embedded in European university networks and comfortable operating across many countries simultaneously.

Sciences Po has collaborated with 43 unique partners across 19 countries, reflecting a broad pan-European network. This reach is notable for a social sciences institution and stems from their involvement in multi-university alliances like CIVICA.

What sets them apart

Sciences Po brings rare interdisciplinary depth at the intersection of political science, economics, law, and sociology — fields that most technical consortia lack but increasingly need for societal impact assessments and policy recommendations. As a coordinator of the CIVICA alliance (a network of Europe's leading social science universities), they offer unmatched access to policy-relevant research capacity. For any consortium needing to address the human, political, or governance dimensions of technology, Sciences Po is an exceptionally strong partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CIVICA RESEARCH
  Their only coordinated project (EUR 399,500), uniting Europe's top social science universities to tackle democratic erosion, climate change, and digital transformation — a significant step up in ambition.
• artes EUmanities
  Demonstrates Sciences Po's commitment to humanities-driven interdisciplinary research and European mobility, with joint supervision agreements across institutions.